


I'll Put Down My Roots When I'm Dead

by nonaestheticwhore



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Family Issues, Found Family, Self-Hatred, platonic heartbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29069712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonaestheticwhore/pseuds/nonaestheticwhore
Summary: Title from Since I Saw Vienna by Wilbur SootPhil tells Tommy the truth and Sam finds what is left of the broken teen, so he decides to put the boy back together with some help.[If any content creator is uncomfortable with this then I'll take it down immediately :)]
Relationships: Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 11
Kudos: 998





	I'll Put Down My Roots When I'm Dead

Growing up, Tommy always knew he was Phil's only biological son. It made sense, he was the only one who looked like Phil. Techno was a piglin hybrid and Wilbur had brown hair and brown eyes, a drastic difference from Phil and Tommy's blonde hair and blue eyes. He never saw the sad look Wilbur gave him when he talked about it or the way Phil bristled. He grew up knowing it was a fact. He didn't have any memories of a time before Phil, it was always warm blue eyes and a gentle touch. He remembers when Phil came home with Techno in tow and the excitement he felt when he found out Techno and Wilbur shared the same birthday. 

He stood in front of his eldest brother and father, hatred burning through his skin. They had just destroyed everything he had worked for. He had sacrificed so much for this nation. His discs. Two of his lives. His brother. And now it stands before him as nothing more than a crater, a reminder that nothing he did ever mattered. 

Someone had asked Phil why he'd done it, Tommy didn't care who.

"Because this nation forced me to kill my only biological son and made me watch as they hunted down my other as if he were nothing more than prey." Phil's voice was cold, unforgiving.

That wasn't what Tommy focused on though. No, what stuck out to him were the words his father spoke. His only biological son and his other. Tommy wasn't a factor in Phil's mind. The realization hits him too fast for his mind to comprehend and he stumbles backwards. Tommy had never been a factor in Phil's mind. Phil had never seen him as one of his sons, merely a child he looked after. 

"I-I thought..." He's unable to finish his sentence.

Phil sneers at him, "You thought wrong. Wilbur was too kind to tell you the truth. You always tried so hard to fit in, it was pitiful."

He doesn't say anything more and disappears with Techno in tow. Silence falls over the people, but Tommy can feel their eyes burning holes through his shirt.

"Tommy...?" Tubbo asks quietly, stepping closer to his friend.

He doesn't hear the attempts to speak to him. His mind fills with the sound of static. His family- no, they were no longer that. They were liars. He wanted to hate Wilbur, he desperately wanted to, but he knew he couldn't. He would never be able to hate Wilbur. Everyone else was dead to him. Why should he keep roots anywhere when they were just rejected and burned by those around him. Everyone had turned him away or betrayed him. 

He finds himself returning to the present far away from L'Manburg. He doesn't know where he is or how he got there, but the meadow in front of him is oddly comforting. The sun is beginning to rise, he doesn't realize he's been out here that long. 

"Tommy?" He flinches at the voice, it's Sam, "We've been looking for you everywhere, how did you get all the way out here?"

He shrugs, he doesn't owe anyone an explanation even if he could give one. 

He hears Sam sit next to him, but neither of them say anything for a while.

Silence encases them until Sam speaks up again, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I wasn't injured." Is his response.

Sam sighs, "That's not what I mean. I'm asking how you are mentally and emotionally. What Phil said is fucked up for anyone to hear, no matter your age."

Tommy's breath catches in his throat. He can't remember the last time someone asked him that. 

"Hey, it's alright. You have to breathe," Sam whispers, placing a comforting hand on Tommy's back.

He doesn't realized he'd stopped breathing entirely. The movement of Sam's hand on his back is enough to make him crumble.

Arms wrap around him and pull him tight as he breaks. He sobs unabashedly into Sam's chest, gripped his shirt for some sense of grounding. He expects Sam to push him away like Phil used to, something he's now realizing should've been a warning sign. It never comes, instead comes gentle and comforting words. They sit there for a long time until Tommy's tears have run dry. Sam doesn't pull away until Tommy does.

"I-I'm sorry," He mumbles, wiping his face.

Sam softly ruffles his hair, "You never have to apologize for having emotions, Tommy. You're a kid who's been through way too much for me to expect you to be emotionless."

That response is almost enough to send Tommy into another fit of tears, but he knows he's cried himself dry. That fact doesn't stop his lip from trembling.

"Tommy?" Sam's voice makes him look up to the older man, "Would you like to come live with me and Ponk? We built a shared base not too far from here that not many people know about. You would have somewhere to stay that's away from everything back in L'Manburg."

He's taken aback by the offer. He blinks at Sam as if waiting for him to say he was joking, but it never comes.

"A-Are you sure...?" He asks.

Sam nods, "Of course I am. You're a kid, you should be able to live in a place that doesn't give you flashbacks at every turn."

And so he agrees. 

Months pass and eventually he finds himself feeling like a kid again. Sam notices how his hearing has been affected by his close proximity to too many explosions and offers to teach him sign language. Tommy finds he enjoys using sign and some days he finds himself completely nonverbal, he enjoys not having to fear saying the wrong thing. Sam decides to introduce him to Callahan, properly this time. He finds immediate friendship in the man. After a while, he begins to relax. He stops flinching when Ponk moves too quickly or if Sam made too loud of a sound working on redstone. He finds himself being more open about how he feels and he stops apologizing for waking Sam and Ponk up when he has a nightmare. 

Tonight was one of those nights. One of those nights where he wakes up screaming, feeling the rough hands of Dream and his commanding voice.

"Hey, hey, you're alright," Sam's voice cuts through his blind panic, "Can you focus on my voice?"

He ties his hardest, but all he can hear is explosions. It takes Sam almost thirty minutes to get him to calm down. It's one of the worse nightmares he's had since he's gotten here. Every time this happened, Sam would ask if he wanted to talk about it and every time, he would refuse.

"You wanna talk about it?" Sam thinks he sounds like a broken record, but he always makes sure to ask just in case Tommy does want to talk about it.

He expects Tommy to deny him again, like he normally did. Instead he nods.

"It's always the same thing," Tommy starts, "It just varies in intensity."

The door creaks open and Ponk enters with a glass of water, offering it to Tommy as he sits.

"It starts with Wilbur. We're back in Pogtopia and he's yelling at me. At some point, his voice turns into Dream's and he starts hitting me. He always called it punishment, he'd drag me by my hair and force me to put all my things in a hole so he could blow them up. Then it's Techno and Phil, they're screaming about how I've never been their family and how I'm just pathetic. And-" He stops, choking on a sob, "Then it's Tubbo. He's always so angry with me. Somehow his screaming turns into explosions and that's always when I wake up."

Ponk's hand is resting on his shoulder and he's gripping Sam's hand tightly. He doesn't remember much of the conversation after that, only waking up sandwiched between them. He doesn't know when they became his family or even when he started craving a family again, but he loves it here. He has no worry that he did back in L'Manburg.

At least, not until they hear the news. The news that Wilbur had been successfully revived by Phil. When news reaches them, Tommy feels himself disconnect from everything. It sends Sam and Ponk into a fit of panic as Tommy stops responding to any and everything. It takes them nearly an hour to talk him back. 

Days later, Sam returns from a supply run.

"Tommy?" Sam enters the base, "Can I talk to you quickly?"

Tommy knows he shouldn't be scared, but he can't help it, "Y-Yeah, what's going on?"

Sam seems hesitant to tell him, "Wilbur wants to see you."

He freezes. Wilbur wanted to see him? Does he have Ghostbur's memories? Did he know about what Phil and Techno did? 

"Phil and Techno were there too. I told them I wouldn't give your position away without your consent. Do you want to see them?" Sam asks quietly.

Tommy doesn't know. His heart aches when he thinks about seeing Wilbur. He misses his brother.

"I want to go see Wilbur," He finally answers.

They venture out the next day, Ponk wishing them luck when they leave. Tommy hasn't been back in nearly nine months. They approach L'Manburg and Tommy sees a large flag standing in the bottom of the crater.

"Puffy made that," Sam informs him, noticing how he stared.

"I'm going to have to thank her," Tommy mumbles before they continue on.

He sees Wilbur before he sees anyone else and his breath hitches. His brother is no longer see through, but rather solid and with his feet planted firmly on the ground. He had donned his old coat again, new patches litter it, and his hair was longer. Wilbur sees him and they lock eyes. Neither of them move before Tommy is running at his brother at full speed, colliding with him and collapsing to the ground. The familiar yet foreign scent of his brother fills him as he melts into the hug. Phantom touches from Ghostbur was never enough to replace the need to be held by Wilbur. 

"Let me see him," He hears Phil say.

"As if," Sam snaps, "You've caused enough issues, leave them alone."

Both Tommy and Wilbur look up to see Sam standing in front of them in a defensive stance. Tommy can see Phil and behind him was Techno and the rest of L'Manburg and El Rapids. 

"I am their father." Phil says, outraged.

Sam scoffs, "You really think you get the right to call yourself that? You might be Wilbur's father, but you will never get to say that you are Tommy's father. You have caused so much trauma for him and I refuse to allow you to cause anymore."

Tommy feels his heart warm at the sight of Sam standing up for him.

"Move." Phil demands.

"Stop it." Wilbur speaks up, surprising everyone.

He stands, gently pulling Tommy with him.

"Wilbur, what are you saying?" Techno asks, stepping forward to stand next to Phil.

Wilbur glares at them, "Did you really think I wouldn't have Ghostbur's memories? You think I wouldn't remember what you did to him? None of you get to pretend that you care about Tommy."

Tommy feels himself tear up. He doesn't remember the last time he had people fight for him like this. His eyes shift from Wilbur to Sam. He doesn't hear the argument that breaks out. He doesn't care. He has people who will fight for him. He has a family. 

That's all he wants. That's all he needs.


End file.
